


Piece of Cake

by rarepairqueen



Series: Products of NaNo 2016 [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Baking, Birthday Fluff, Gen, general chaos that is Karasuno on a daily basis, lots of puns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 17:21:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9133861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rarepairqueen/pseuds/rarepairqueen
Summary: Karasuno throw a birthday party for Daichi and Asahi, but not before an entire afternoon of baking takes place and Suga's kitchen nearly gets destroyed.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So partly inspired by a conversation about baking, partly requested by a friend who complains there's not enough non-shippy gen fics.
> 
> I felt it would be a fitting end to 2016, a crazy af year for me in terms of writing and lifestyle changes. Just wanna say a big thankyou to all my readers (whether you've read all of my fics or just stumbled across one or two) for all your support! I really do appreciate you all! :3
> 
> So here's to 2017, and a Happy Birthday to both Daichi and Asahi~

Piece of Cake

 

December was a busy time for everyone, that was a given.  It was especially busy at Karasuno, with not only Christmas to deal with but three birthdays and new year’s eve going into _another_ birthday. Safe to say Suga was broke by the end of the month and very, very tired.  
He never complained though, he loved his team and after the chaotic season of volleyball it gave them the perfect chance to unwind and show a little appreciation for their captain, for it was his birthday that fell on New year’s Eve.

He had first pitched the idea to Kiyoko, to have a small party to celebrate both their captain and their ace's birthdays, though not actually on New Year's eve as many of the team had plans. She agreed it was a good idea, especially considering it was their third year. She even offered to buy the cakes herself but Suga declined. No he wanted this to have a more personal touch.  
He was going to get the entire team to bake cakes, he knew it wouldn't necessarily be hassle free but that was part of the fun.

It wasn't really necessary to keep it from the two birthday boys, the previous year had been spent in a similar fashion - except less screaming kouhais and more Tanaka making really bad Christmas puns - so the two were expecting _something_ , Suga just left out the tiny detail that everyone else would show up five hours early to bake cakes. It wasn't hard to keep that detail from them, he didn't even tell the others exactly what he was planning. He knew that if Hinata and Nishinoya actually knew what they'd be doing, they wouldn't be able to stop themselves blabbing it out either in person or in the team group chat. Kiyoko and Yachi were the first to arrive just before midday, Suga was more than happy that they could get some of the prep work done before chaos descended on his home.

"Huh, we're baking cakes?" Hinata tilted his head as Suga had them all sat in his lounge.

"Yes, I thought it would mean more to them if we bake them ourselves rather than buy one." Suga replied with his calm and composed smile. "Plus it's a good excuse to hang out, don't you think?"

"Hell yeah! We're gonna bake a cake for Asahi!" Noya grinned, nudging Tanaka in the ribs. "Bro you totally need to--"

"Hold on." Suga commanded calm again before crazy schemes could get carried away. "Yachi and Kiyoko have already picked out some recipes for us, and I've split everyone into two teams so we're not all crowded around one mixing bowl."

"Kiyoko-senpai?" Tanaka repeated unnecessarily, prompting the third year to poke her head around the door and asked what he wanted; hair swept up in a ponytail and already donning a chequered apron.

"Anyway." Suga sighed, already feeling control slipping from his grasp. "So team A - who will be working on Asahi's cake - are; Nishinoya, Hinata, Yamaguchi, Ennoshita and Tanaka."

"Aka, team rolling thun--"

"Team B - you'll be working on Daichi's cake - are; myself, Kageyama, Tsukishima, Kinoshita, Narita and Kiyoko." Suga cut off Noya's exclamation with an eye-roll.

"What about Yachi-chan?" Hinata asked.

"Oh she said she's more of a decorator than a baker." Suga replied.

"Waaaaaah no fair I wanted to work with Kiyoko!" Tanaka complained, getting a slight glare from Ennoshita for being so loud already.

With no other questions, Suga ushered them into his kitchen. He had bought more than they needed but stressed that it wasn't an excuse to waste the ingredients, Yachi had poured over the different recipe books and decided which ones to use, now busying herself with thinking up ideas for decorating each one appropriately. Kiyoko helped everyone find an apron - though why Suga had twelve aprons in his house was yet to be explained - before the two teams took to opposite ends of the island counter to study the recipe presented to them.

"Suga-senpai, did you buy all these aprons for today alone?" Kageyama asked as he found a price tag still stuck to his apron.

"...maybe." Suga sheepishly smiled, rubbing the back of his head. "I had a coupon okay?"

"Oh my god you're such a mom." Ennoshita laughed.

"That'll be you next year." Tanaka nudged his ribs.

"Eh? No, it's the vice's job to be the mom, ergo it'll be _you_."

"Please no, Tanaka will poison us all." Tsukishima stated, looking up from the recipe page with a completely serious face.

"Tsuki...why you little..." Tanaka made to march over to the first year but was caught by the back of his shirt by Ennoshita.

Suga laughed, catching Kiyoko's eye as she tried to suppress her giggles. As with anything involving the team, it soon evolved into a competition to see who could make the better cake for their senpai. Hinata and Noya scanned the instructions briefly before declaring they knew exactly what they were doing, Yamaguchi read them a little more slowly to try and process what exactly they had to do and in what order, not that it mattered as the other two were already throwing cups of ingredients into the mixing bowl without much thought.

"How many cups of flour did we need?" Noya asked, peering into the mixture. "I put in two."

"What's this?"

"That's sugar, Hinata."

"Oh, I put like three cups in--"

" _Three?!_ " Ennoshita sighed. "We only needed half of one."

"Oh well" Noya shrugged.

"No it's not 'oh well' at all!"

Yamaguchi inspected the bowl before concluding it wasn't really the end of the world. He subtlety confiscated the rest of both the flour and sugar whilst Noya was too busy trying to convince Tanaka that he could totally juggle four eggs.

"Quit egging him on." Ennoshita sighed.

"Eyyy nice one Chikara!" Tanaka slapped the other's shoulder, leaving behind a perfect hand-print of flour.

"What?"

"Egging, y'know, eggs...it's a pun!"

"Oh for god's sake."

On the other side of the kitchen, Kageyama had been doing battle with mixing butter and flour together. Under Suga's guidance he had been taught the proper method for mixing by hand as the electric mixer had been commandeered by Tanaka because 'we have more mixture to make than you'. Tsukishima had kept his snide remarks to himself as he watched Kageyama’s brow furrow as the mixture got harder and harder to stir.

"You forgot the vanilla essence." Tsukishima uttered with a smirk.

"The what?"

"The vanilla essence."

"The fuck is that?"

"You don't know what vanilla essence is?" Tsukishima clarified, adjusting his glasses as he sighed heavily. He was about to launch into an explanation when Hinata stole his thunder.

"Bakageyama doesn't know?!" The smaller boy interrupted, practically shoving Tsukishima out of the way as he bounded over.

"No." Tsukishima grunted.

"It's like the elixir of _life itself_ how do you not know this?!" Hinata wind-milled his arms as if that would grant Kageyama an epiphany.

"The hell are you on about?"

Suga had overheard the entire exchange and couldn't help but laugh, mainly because Kageyama had the most confused look on his face whilst Hinata kept expecting him to suddenly understand everything. Tsukishima found the small bottle and gave it to Kageyama, the setter wrinkled his nose as he opened the bottle and gave it a sniff.

"It's like the secret ingredient of every magical pixie potion." Hinata breathed, eyes wide as he watched the setter inspect the bottle.

"So I put it all in?" Kageyama asked, poised to empty the entire contents into the bowl.

"No don't do that!" Tsukishima exclaimed, completely aghast that Kageyama thought he had to use the _entire_ bottle.

"Baka! You'll kill captain if you do that!" Hinata squawked. "It'll be like the preliminaries all over again!"

"I don't think Suga wants to be a single parent, so yeah don't do that." Kinoshita added.

Suga shook his head as he laughed, focusing more on sorting out the frosting that would go on top of the cake that was currently being made. Tsukishima told Kageyama specifically how much essence to put in and then gave the bottle to Kiyoko for safe keeping. Hinata was ushered back to Yamaguchi to carry on with Asahi's cake and Tsukishima was about to start teasing the Kageyama when his attention was grabbed by chaos across the counter form him; Noya had successfully dropped four eggs, three ending up on the floor and one on Tanaka's head. The libero broke down in a fit of laughter, hugging his stomach as yolk dribbled down Tanaka's unimpressed face.

"Noya, care to eggs-plain what just happened?" Suga asked, raising an eyebrow as Kinoshita groaned immediately at the pun.

"I think it's a cracking improvement to your face Ryu." Ennoshita remarked, gesturing to the bright yellow streaks on the tanned cheeks.

Hinata and Yamaguchi had almost entirely missed the lunacy, only catching on when Tanaka started chasing Noya around the kitchen, egg still on his face. Suga didn't even try to stop them, he simply watched to make sure they didn't damage anything or draw anyone else into their whirlwind of chaos. The two first years continued following the recipe, Ennoshita was put in charge of making sure it all came together in the electric mixer as Tanaka caught Noya and put him in a headlock.

Kageyama had been liberated from his team to help Kiyoko on another baking project, she was making miniature cheesecakes and needed someone to help her fill up the cupcake tins. When it came to making the frosting for Asahi's cake, Tanaka was more than happy to stop trying to murder Noya and actually get involved in the process. Ennoshita could already sense the stupidity increasing by the moment.

"This'll be easy as pie." Tanaka declared.

"You mean a piece of cake." Noya corrected.

"You're a piece of cake." The other replied instantly, not really thinking his insult through.

"At least I can take a yolk."

"Hey!"

Ennoshita grabbed two wooden spoons and hit them both on the head. "Get back to making frosting."

Yamaguchi had sought refuge near Tsukishima, watching the other starting on another bake, Suga had noticed his confidence and asked if he could try and make some cupcakes with whatever ingredients hadn't ended up on the floor yet. Tsukishima tuned out most of the bickering and bad puns as he worked the mixture, adding the flour, sugar and butter together and mixing with much less swearing and muttering than Kageyama had done earlier that day. He turned to the other and asked if he could potentially retrieve two eggs from the dangerous side of the room, Yamaguchi took one look at Tanaka currently brandishing a whisk at Ennoshita and shook his head.

"Stop being a whisk to public safety and get back to work." Tsukishima grunted at Tanaka as he retrieved the eggs.

"Not you too!" Tanaka turned and waved the utensil at the blond, striking his cheek and leaving a large streak of white frosting on his skin.

"Oh my god seriously Ryuu." Ennoshita confiscated the weapon before frosting ended up on anyone else, deciding the only way Asahi was gonna have a cake with icing on it was for him to do most of the work. He commandeered Narita to help him with the final few steps before setting the frosting far away from anyone.

Kageyama sighed as he finished setting out Kiyoko's cheesecakes in the tin. He had just wiped his hands on his apron when Hinata and Noya bounded up to him, he eyed them suspiciously as they grinned at him.

"Kageyama, I got a challenge for you!" Hinata declared.

"No."

Hinata paid no mind to his answer. "I dare you, to eat a spoonful of this--" He produced a small bottle with the label removed. Kageyama wanted to decline immediately - again - but his competitive nature was getting the better of him, plus this was obviously something dumb and Hinata wouldn't let him hear the end of it probably.

"Fine."

He watched as Noya measured out a spoonful of the brown-ish powder, accepting it and trying to work out what it was before he stuck it in his mouth. Hinata looked like he was going to spontaneously combust, a fit of giggles was on the horizon as Kageyama finally ate the spoonful.

It took precisely four seconds for him to realise what he'd done.

"Cinnamon?!" He tried to protest, a cloud of dust coming out instead. Hinata broke down in hysterics, Noya tried to keep himself composed as Kageyama started coughing. Suga came over to find out what happened and took the spluttering setter to the sink so he could wash out his mouth. He shot Noya a slightly disappointed look as he rubbed Kageyama's back.

Tsukishima laughed at the situation, having handed over mixing duty to Yamaguchi so he could rest his arm. Kiyoko simply shook her head and smiled, retrieving the tin Kageyama had lined before nearly dying and putting it next to the oven to go in once the larger cakes had finished baking.

"One could say Kageyama needed some more spice in his life." Noya shrugged as Suga's disapproving look wavered at the pun.

"I'm gonna get you for that one." Kageyama scowled at Hinata.

"Like to see you try!" Hinata grinned.

 

* * *

 

 

Assembling and decorating the cakes would prove to be the end of everyone. Ennoshita was very specific with instructing Tanaka how to _carefully_ lay the second tier on top of the ring of raspberries topping the ground tier, the other put on a focused expression as he slowly lowered the spongy layer to marry up with the fruit. Hinata and Noya watched with baited breath as he was told to _gently_ press down on it in preparation for the third and final tier.

It was the quietest the kitchen had been since they started.

The other cake was carefully lifted out of its tin by Suga, Tsukishima levelled the cake with impressive precision and then let Kinoshita go about covering it in frosting they had whipped up. Yachi had stayed far away from most of the chaos, focusing more on any final tweaks to the designs of the cakes, before rejoining the groups and describing her vision of perfection to both groups.

When Tanaka placed the final tier onto Asahi's cake, making sure it didn't slip off before backing away with his hands in the air. A brief moment of silence passed before he let out a whoop of victory and high-fived Noya. Ennoshita shook his head as he smiled, getting on with icing the top of the cake and placing raspberries around the outside, he had been told that Kiyoko was going to handle the actual writing part so he just had to leave a blank canvas for her.

Suga took over decorating Daichi's cake once the chocolate frosting had been smoothed out, the strawberries had been sliced so he could line the sides with them. With both the cupcakes and Kiyoko's mini cheesecakes still baking, the younger males started creating more chaos to be cleared up.

"Oi Yamaguchi, think fast!" Hinata called, launching an egg at the other. Yamaguchi did indeed think fast and batted the egg straight at Kageyama's face. Tsukishima burst out laughing as Kageyama's eye twitched in irritation. With a hasty wipe of his face with the apron, Kageyama picked up another egg and threw it full force at Hinata who then side-stepped to avoid getting hit. Not letting that stop him, Kageyama then vaulted over the counter and chased Hinata out of the kitchen, yelling the entire time.

"Should we...do something about that?" Narita asked as Ennoshita shook his head.

"No, it keeps them out of the way for now--"

A scream from Hinata sent Noya scampering into the lounge, the libero found Hinata not in obvious pain but being tickled by the setter instead. Not one to want to feel left out, Noya pounced on Kageyama and between the two of them they had Kageyama in hysterical laughter. The strange sound prompted Suga to investigate but when it was obvious that it was actually Kageyama _laughing_ , he couldn't help but feel like a proud parent. After all he did somewhat regard the first years as his family.

Once the cupcakes emerged from the oven and allowed to cool, Tsukishima was quick to get them decorated before they got used as impromptu ammo. Daichi's cake was finished off with carefully iced volleyballs and '#1 Captain' by Tanaka, whilst Kiyoko and Noya followed Yachi's design choice for Asahi's cake.

"Is that...a pun?" Ennoshita asked when he read over Noya's shoulder.

"M-Maybe!" Yachi replied.

"It's a good one, he'll love it." Noya gave her a thumbs up as Kiyoko giggled.

"You sure he won't think we're all hitting on him?"

"Nah, it's Asahi, he'll turn into a blubbering wreck regardless of what we write." Tanaka replied from across the room.

Suga had excused himself from the cake decorating to order Kageyama to wash the egg of his face and get Hinata to help him prepare for the few extra guests they had invited. Kinoshita and Narita had been sent out to get some extra snacks ahead of the actual party starting less than two hours from then.

"Who's actually coming to the party senpai?" Hinata asked as he helped the other set up a kotatsu.

"Hm? Oh some of our friends from other teams." Suga replied. "Like Kuroo, Bokuto, their setters and Iwaizumi I think, oh and Moniwa."

"Moniwa?" Hinata vaguely remembered the name but didn't quite understand why he was attending the party.

"Yeah, him and Daichi have been friends for about a year now." Suga smiled, finally happy the kotatsu was in place. "You're forgetting that we've got an extra two years of meeting other teams on you."

"So that's why we had to make so many cakes."

"Precisely. Now did you wrap up your gifts or do you need some--"

"I got it senpai." Hinata declared, finding his bag and rummaging around inside before pulling out two slim parcels with a grin. Suga told him to leave them on top of the kotatsu and then get the others to follow suit, there was still a lot to do before everyone arrived and Suga was starting to feel the pressure a little.

 

* * *

 

 

"So everyone's put their gifts on the table right?" Suga asked, he was met with a chorus of 'yes' as they put the final touches to all the food. He was finally satisfied that all the preparation was complete and he could now text Daichi to let him know they could arrive whenever was convenient.

Hinata and Kageyama had called a truce to their small war, mainly because Ennoshita threatened to restrict how much cake they were allowed if they didn't. Everyone had gathered in Suga's lounge - which would prove to be a tight fit when everyone else arrived - armed with party poppers in anticipation for the vip's arrival.

"Wait, won't Asahi have like a heart attack?" Tanaka asked as Suga checked his phone for more messages.

"He's not that bad!" Noya quickly defended.

"I mean worst case scenario, he starts crying." Ennoshita added.

"Guys please, it's the guy's birthday party." Noya sighed.

Suga motioned for everyone to be quiet as he approached the front door, a few seconds later the buzzer sounded and he smiled. Within two seconds of him opening the door and inviting his two best friends in, the entire team were shouting and confetti was flying everywhere. Daichi startled slightly before laughing, Asahi held his face in his hands in embarrassment as Suga wrapped an arm around both of their shoulders.

"Happy birthday~" He grinned.

"Did you seriously plan all this?" Daichi asked as Asahi was too busy trying not to turn bright red at being the centre of attention.

"Maybe." Suga chuckled.

"Daichi-san we got you both presents!" Hinata called, gesturing to the pile of wrapped gifts.

"Hold on, shouldn't we wait for the others to arrive first?" Suga hummed.

"What others?" Asahi asked, a little worried which made the setter playfully nudge his ribs.

"Oh I just invited some of our third year friends."

"Oh boy, not--"

"Yep, Kuroo-san, Bokuto too. Iwaizumi said he'll drop by as well. Oh and Moniwa."

Daichi seemed genuinely speechless as he finally moved to sit down at one of two spaces left at the kotatsu. Asahi was two seconds away from sitting down when Noya practically tackled him to the floor in a fit of laughter. For a while they simply chatted, no-one mentioning the hours of baking that had taken place - Suga was insistent it had to be a surprise - whilst waiting for the other guests to arrive.

"Hey hey hey!" A familiar booming voice called as Suga opened the front door again. Bokuto bounded through the doorway and handed his gift to Daichi, Akaashi followed a little less bright-eyed and bushy-tailed but still smiling.

"Bokuto, nice to see you." Daichi acknowledged as he accepted the packet, Akaashi handed a gift to Asahi with a polite nod before tugging Bokuto to sit down before he tripped over his own feet or worst - Hinata. Suga barely managed to close the door before another voice joined the fray.

"Yo we would've been earlier but _someone_ nearly got left on the train at Tokyo." Kuroo gestured to the usual stoic setter that followed him with his eyes glued to the screen of his games console. "Kenma can you like put that away, we're at a party."

"A party I didn't want to come to, no offence Sugawara-senpai." The other murmured, glancing up at the rival setter.

"It's okay," Suga smiled, getting the door closed finally. He watched Kuroo bound into the lounge and initiate some weird secret handshake/brofist with Bokuto. "If you want, you can always just sit in my room if there's too many people for you to handle."

"I appreciate it..." Kenma paused, glancing up again with a slight smile. "I'll try to cope for now."

"Don't force yourself though, just say the word and I'll let you in."

Kenma nodded, allowing Hinata to tug him onto the seat between him and Yamaguchi. Kuroo and Bokuto bought a bit more life - as if it was really needed - to the conversation, each asking 101 questions about how Karasuno was doing, whether any juicy gossip was coming out of Miyagi in general. Daichi laughed along with their comedic act, usually he found it irritating but in a more casual atmosphere it was actually amusing. Asahi was more than happy to be largely ignored by their guests, instead listening to Noya and Tanaka describe a recent trip to Tokyo and how they had eaten way to much candy.

Kiyoko and Ennoshita were on hand to serve everyone drinks, making sure the doors to the dining room were kept shut so no-one could catch a glimpse of the layout of the table that Yachi had spent ten minutes on. Suga lingered by the door as they waited for two more guests to arrive, somewhat hoping that they didn't forget. His worries were dispelled when the buzzer went again and Iwaizumi smiled at him as he opened the door.

"Sup," he greeted, holding up a gift-bag. "This is from shittykawa, he sends his apologies but he had to do some volleyball coaching today."

Suga laughed, ushering him inside, he was about to close the door when he saw Moniwa across the street and waved. The Date Tech third year seemed nervous but smiled at Suga anyway as he was allowed into the warm home. Daichi stopped Kuroo rambling about the recent abuse of Lev at the hands of Yaku to greet the other with a wave.

"So that's everyone right?" Hinata asked, clearly impatient to see the gift-opening portion of the day.

"Should be..." Suga nodded.

"Asahi open your gifts!" Noya grinned, practically vibrating with excitement. The ace laughed and complied; getting a box of his favourite fudge from Tanaka, a beard care kit from Ennoshita, a set of new headbands from Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, a hand knitted scarf from Yachi, a key-chain from Hinata, festive socks from Kageyama, some chocolate from the Fukurodani duo and some sunflower seeds from Kiyoko.

"Last one eh?" Asahi hummed, he had deliberately left Noya's til last on the table. It was a slim packet so he thought it was a gift-card at first, when he opened the card he was a little stunned to find two train tickets there. "Yuu..."

"We can go to Tokyo together!" Noya happily declared. "I wanna show you that awesome candy shop--" He got cut off by his friend pulling him into a tight hug.

"I-I can't wait!"

Daichi laughed as the ace tried not to cry, deciding to unwrap his gifts finally. They ranged from another knitted scarf from Yachi, a mug with '#1 dad' on it from Noya, a set of knee-pads that resembled Bokuto's from the owl captain himself, some festive socks from Kageyama, a key-chain from Hinata - it matched Asahi's perfectly -, a huge box of chocolates from Ennoshita, Kinoshita and Narita, several packets of his favourite ramen from Tsukishima, and inside Oikawa's gift-bag was a pair of underpants in Karasuno's colours that Daichi didn't even take out of the bag because that would've prompted a lot of laughter at his expense.

"I did tell him to stop buying people underwear but apparently he couldn't help himself." Iwaizumi shrugged, avoiding the crumpled up wrapping paper that was thrown his way. Kuroo and Bokuto immediately asked what Oikawa had bought and the ace just promised he'd tell them later.

Tanaka's gift was next on the list. The other was practically laughing before Daichi even established what it was. The captain's eyes widened as he tore the paper away; a brown wig eerily similar to that of the vice-principal's. The other guests were confused at first, especially as Tanaka and Noya burst out laughing. Hinata couldn't contain his giggles long enough to explain so it fell to Yamaguchi to hastily explain as even Suga couldn't stop his laughter escaping.

"Tanaka...." Daichi uttered, eye twitching as he tried to avoid caving into laughter. "When practice starts again, you're running a hundred laps of the gym."

"It's worth it!" Tanaka howled through his laughter. "Your face Daichi-san!"

"Open ours next." Kuroo egged, presenting Daichi with a totally not suspicious grin on his face. The captain didn't think as he opened it, one peek inside had him red-faced before Kuroo cackled. "Put them on, c'mon I spent _weeks_ looking for--"

"No, you spent two hours." Kenma interrupted.

Daichi was going to object but could sense the curiosity in the room mounting. He sighed heavily as he slowly pulled out the cat ears, glaring at Kuroo the entire time as he fitted them on his head. Suga gently face-palmed - having not totally recovered from the wig reveal - and started laughing all over again. There were mixed reactions from confusion to awkward coughing before Suga managed to get himself together to pull out the final gifts.

"I was gonna wait til everyone else had gone but eh, might as well do it now." He smiled, handing two rectangular packets to them both. They were labelled '#1' and '#2' to dictate which were to be opened first.

The first was a framed photo of Karasuno just after the preliminaries; the group shot that showed exhausted but ecstatic smiles on everyone's faces, complete with Noya on Tanaka's shoulders and the first year duo fighting in the corner. The second was another framed photo but this was of just Daichi, Asahi, Suga and Kiyoko from the summer vacation during their second year; they'd had a bonfire at Asahi's house and took the picture as a last minute thought with the fire-glow on their cheeks and pure joy in their smiles. Suga's arm was draped around Kiyoko's shoulders as he gave the photographer - probably Asahi's dad - a thumbs up, whilst Daichi and Asahi jokingly flexed their biceps on either side of them. Suga treasured the photo, it reminded him that regardless of the stress of volleyball, they were all the best of friends and would remain that way even after graduation.

Asahi was the first to speak. "I forgot we took this." He uttered, letting Noya look at the picture as he glanced up at Suga and then to Kiyoko who smiled.

"I managed to get a copy to Suga before the semester started, but then everything got hectic so I didn't get around to giving you two a copy. When Suga suggested getting you two something special for this birthday I remembered the picture and thought it would be fitting." She stated. "He was the one who paid for the prints and the frames though so that's why he's the one giving it to you."

Daichi hadn't said anything, his eyes had welled up with tears which he hastily wiped away and gave Suga a beaming smile. "Thanks Koushi, I love it."

"I thought you might, you big softies." Suga teased. "Clear the table then, we got another gift to give you."

Kiyoko followed Suga into the kitchen whilst Ennoshita took charge of the chaos, they lit the candles for both cakes and proceeded to carry them carefully into the other room. A slightly-off key rendition of Happy Birthday was sung as the cakes were set down and the other two third years just stared in awe before blowing out the candles.

"Is that a pun on your cake?" Daichi asked as they read the messages on top.

"Ace of hearts..." Asahi mumbled, the red icing in the shape of a playing card stood out on white frosting.

"Get it?" Cause you're the glass-heart ace?" Noya provided unnecessarily, it did get a laugh out of the ace and Bokuto too. Suga interrupted the cake cutting to point out that Yachi had designed both the cakes and picked out the recipes herself, which gained her a round of applause and made her blush heavily.

Once everyone had a slice of one of the cakes, the tales of 'the great baking saga' started coming out; Tanaka getting rekted by puns, Kageyama and Hinata throwing eggs at each other, Kageyama thinking an entire bottle of vanilla essence was how he made a cake and so on. Daichi turned to Moniwa and asked if he really wanted kouhais that caused this much trouble or whether Aone not talking was actually a blessing in disguise. The former-captain laughed and shook his head, launching into a semi-rant about how unruly his team actually was behind closed doors.

Kuroo and Bokuto took great delight in finding out just what Oikawa had gifted Daichi and then started harassing Tsukishima. Tanaka helped bring in more of the food including the cupcakes and Kiyoko's cheesecakes, the happy buzz in the room even seemed to make Kenma crack a smile when Hinata told him about the vanilla essence incident in more detail, Kageyama managed to let go of his pride for a few moments and laugh too. Iwaizumi started giving tips to Tanaka about spiking, letting Akaashi interrupt to include tips on being a vice-captain with a temperamental ace. Ennoshita simply laughed at first until he realised that he would also have to know these things.

The afternoon drew on, food being eaten and embarrassing stories being told as Kuroo asked if Daichi was going to try Oikawa's gift on, the Karasuno captain resisted temptation to throw a cupcake at the other's face. Noya was looking at the group photo and then the picture of the third years together, he got an odd feeling from it.

"Hey, can we take pictures like this? Today?" He asked Suga. "Like, the first years and then the second years...and you guys and then all together?"

Suga looked at Daichi as if to ask permission, the latter nodded with a smile. "Sure, I'll go and get a camera."

"Yay picture time!" Hinata exclaimed.

Iwaizumi volunteered to take the pictures, letting Suga boss everyone around to get a good background setting. The picture of the first years featured Hinata and Yamaguchi stood either side of a nervously-smiling-Yachi, flashing peace signs whilst Tsukishima smiled subtly, holding two fingers up behind Kageyama's head as the setter simply raised an eyebrow in return. It was as good as they were gonna get before Kageyama started accusing Tsukishima of making him look bad.

Noya and Tanaka were boisterous as usual; Noya getting a piggyback of the other whilst grinning from ear to ear, Ennoshita simply stood in the centre with his arms folded and smiled with Kinoshita and Narita on his other side looking equally as cheerful.

The third years decided to recreate the photo from last summer, complete with flexing biceps and Kiyoko giggling at something Suga had murmured in her ear. As soon as it was taken, the rest of Karasuno flooded in and several group photos were taken. More photos were taken featuring Daichi, Kuroo, Bokuto and Akaashi. Daichi, Iwaizumi and Moniwa had one taken too before Hinata eventually persuaded Kenma to have just _one_ taken.

All in all, Suga's camera had a lot of photos to be processed on it.

As the evening drew in, Iwaizumi declared he'd have to get going, Kuroo too acknowledged the time and stated him and Kenma had a train to catch. One by one their guests from various schools filtered out, wishing Daichi and Asahi happy birthday before leaving. Karasuno themselves seemed very content to stay the night on Suga's floor but the setter stated they couldn't. Reluctantly they started leaving, thanking Suga for being a good host and wishing their senpai's happy birthday again before disappearing into the December night.

Soon it was just the third years left, Daichi kept looking at both of the framed photos endearingly as Asahi started eating one of the last slices of his cake. Kiyoko watched them both with a smile as Suga started cleaning up the plates and glasses.

"We should do this again," Daichi hummed, pointing to the bonfire picture. "except with the entire team y'know?"

"Yeah, though you know something else will get set on fire." Asahi murmured.

"500¥ says it's Nishinoya's hair."

"No, it'll be a marshmallow that Hinata drops into the fire." Kiyoko giggled.

"That doesn't count 'cause it's food." Suga argued as he sat down across from the captain. "Why are we so convinced anything will get set on fire?"

Daichi and Kiyoko gave Suga a look that screamed 'really Suga?' before laughing, Asahi shook his head at them as he chuckled quietly.

"I mean, it's Karasuno?" The ace suggested.

"True, but I'd like to give them a little more credit." Suga rubbed the back of his head as he laughed.

"Y'know I'm surprised your _house_ didn't get set on fire." Daichi raised an eyebrow. "How'd you manage that?"

"Well Kiyoko was in charge of the oven. We didn't let them anywhere near it really."

"And yet we still managed to have eggs being thrown everywhere." Kiyoko sighed, holding her head in her hands as she laughed. "Those puns..."

"They were rather egg-celent, right?" Suga remarked.

"Please no!"

They all shared a laugh, whilst they were all too aware that their time with the team was limited it didn't dampen the good times they shared with their kouhais. If anything it provided moments to cherish and look back on, the fact they had pictures lessened the blow slightly.

"Oi, what are we gonna do about your birthday?" Daichi asked Suga. "We'll be at college when it rolls around."

"Hm? Oh I'm sure we can think of something, I don't mind if we're all too busy--"

"Well Hinata's birthday is like the week after right? We could do another joint party." Asahi hummed.

"I'm _not_ organising that." Daichi stated immediately, getting a laugh out of the others. "I am not trying to bake anything with Karasuno."

"Aw c'mon Daichi, you know what I think?" Suga smiled.

"What?"

"I think it'll be _a piece of cake_ ."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Sidenote, if anyone wants to do me a massive favour and draw the picture of the third years that I described, I would be forever in your debt. After I finished describing it I realised I had a mighty need for an actual copy but alas, I cannot art to save my life T_T.


End file.
